Transitional Tales – a journey from whence to where and making sense of it all.

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Looking to the future

Do you know those feelings before starting a new journey into the unknown? There is a mixture of excitement and fear. The excitement focusses on anticipation of the wonderful things you will see, the people you will meet and the experiences that you will have. The fear focuses on whether you are competent enough, and how will you manage and what if you fall over?

I’m embarking on a new business venture and so am experiencing all of those thoughts and feelings. The new venture is prompted by several things. For a start, I am one of those people who is always coming up with new ideas. When I was younger I just launched into them with the zest and enthusiasm of someone who was really green and didn’t know it. I had some failures but some successes too and it taught me a lot. I really wish that I’d had some mentors during those years of exploration and enthusiasm, but that’s another topic.

Secondly, I can see that there is no security of tenure with my current employer and redundancy is likely to come my way by the end of the financial year. This coincides with my increasing dissatisfaction at a role that is increasingly dumbed down and diminished in content and engagement. It is not surprising therefore that my frustration at working in a non-supportive environment has lead to my thoughts of self-employment again. I also recognise that this is a poor employment market for people past a certain age and if I don’t want to find myself in the clutches of Centrelink, I will need to be resourceful and to develop alternatives that are financially viable.

The third reason is that I can see a new challenge in the future and it excites me. That doesn’t mean that I am not apprehensive about what I am proposing but the prospect of taking back control over my working life is a greater incentive than the fear is a detraction. Right now I am in the research phase and working on my business plan and just doing this preliminary work fuels the anticipation.

Although I am not in a position to disclose full details right now, I am keen to develop relationships with other service providers, and specifically those who are not totally embedded in the youth culture. I would not expect for instance that the copy on my webpage would contain words such as ‘totally awesome’ as my target audience will mostly come from Gen X and Baby Boomer age groups. I will look for a copy writer who can engage with and not alienate that age group. Likewise a brand manager, graphic designer and photographer.

Finding a mentor of course would be fantastic but jut as useful will be developing a network of people who are at a similar stage in life and perhaps starting new ventures of their own. If that sounds like you, give me a shout.